VacationSelector
The Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An
Hoi AnThe Japanese Covered Bridge
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Hoi An by François Guerraz, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Hoi An or Muscat?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Hoi An for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Hoi An’s own page.

Choose Muscat for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Hoi An and Muscat are level on 72.
Food & drink. Hoi An 68, Muscat 44: Hoi An leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Hoi An 66, Muscat 55: Hoi An leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Hoi An 28, Muscat 14: Hoi An leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hoi An 63, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Hoi An 50, Muscat 62: Muscat leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Hoi An 58, Muscat 52: Hoi An leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Hoi An 48, Muscat 20: Hoi An leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Hoi An 57, Muscat 42: Hoi An leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Hoi An 88, Muscat 45: Hoi An leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hoi An 24, Muscat 40: Muscat leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hoi An 65, Muscat 55: Hoi An leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hoi An and Muscat.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Hoi An
Best match
57match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Hoi An in July

35 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
83 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600800JFMAMJJASOND
Hoi AnMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hoi An: 1991-2020 normals, Da Nang (23.5 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHoi AnMuscat
Official languageVietnameseArabic
CurrencyDong (VND)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsACFG220 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+4
Emergency numberPolice 113, ambulance 115, fire 114968
Elevation13 m69 m
Main airportDa Nang International Airport (DAD)23 km from centre47 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureHoi AnMuscat
City population121,7161,421,409
People per km²-406
Museums within 10 km510
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hoi An or Muscat somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.